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Aboleth
| source = Pathfinder Bestiary | page = 8 }} Ancient creatures that claim to predate the very gods themselves, aboleth are a powerful race which plot byzantine schemes from their aquatic cities. Description The appearance of the aboleth is alien and bizarre; the closest analog would be some sort of nightmarish, prehistoric fish that has grown to huge proportions. The creature's outline is fish-like with a powerful tail at one end and a pointed head at the other. The head bears no resemblance to any sort of known fish, having three huge, alien, red eyes located at its very front. The creature seems to have no other facial features, lacking even a mouth. Behind this hideous head is a slime-covered body. Further back it has a fish-like dorsal fin that helps with movement, but instead of the fins one would normally find on the side of a fish, it has two long, grasping tentacles on each side. From head to tail an aboleth is around 25 feet long and their bulky bodies make them weigh well over 6,000 pounds. It is a master of magic that controls or confuses the mind, able to weave illusions to confuse or simply crush the will of those who oppose it. Aboleths have several unique abilities: their tentacles are covered in slime that weakens the flesh of those it touches. Aboleth also have the ability to release a cloud of mucus that removes a creature's ability to breathe air and instead make it breathe water. The aboleths normally use this to capture and make use of air breathing slaves; it also ensures their loyalty as the effect only lasts a few hours and must regularly be renewed. They generally speak their own language, in addition to the most common languages of the Darklands. Habitat & Society and Sajan battle an aboleth.]] Aboleths dwell in the deepest, darkest depths of the ocean, untouched by sunlight. Here they dwell in vast, alien cities whose buildings are supported by the water, and which dwarf almost every human structure. These cities are hideous to look upon, as they are created with strange, alien designs that bear no resemblance to the tastes that govern human architecture. In ancient times, they ruled the watery expanses of the Darklands, claiming rule over the Sightless Sea, miles beneath the Arcadian Ocean. They are not the sole inhabitants of these cyclopean cities, for they regularly take captured slaves back to their underwater strongholds, although for what purpose no one knows. Aboleth society is strictly atheistic, as it existed long before the gods took an interest in the Material Plane. To them the deities worshiped so fervently by the land dwellers are nothing but young upstarts, unworthy of the aboleths' attention. One of the most interesting parts of aboleth society is their ability to mold and create new races of slave creatures to suit their needs. Many races of Golarion were originally created by the inscrutable aboleths, including the skum (who made up the majority of their armies in ancient times) , cloakers , faceless stalkers, ceratioidi, and some even believe, the shoggoth. History The known history of the aboleth stretches all the way back into the Age Before Ages, into the time of ancient Azlant. The aboleth are believed to have raised the native humans of that continent from barbarism, teaching them their control of magic. Some will argue that these early humans instead stole this information from the aboleth, but whatever the truth is, eventually the humans grew too proud for their masters. In punishment for their egotism, the aboleth brought down a large meteor known as the Starstone, completely obliterating Azlant, and plunging the world into the Age of Darkness. To the aboleth's great alarm, however, they had miscalculated the destructive power of the Starstone's impact. Not only did it destroy or severely cripple every major land-based civilization of the age, but also led to a severe downturn of the aboleth's own advanced society on the ocean's floor. The aboleth are known to have rescued a number of humans from the destruction of Azlant for their own reasons. Through their fleshwarping abilities, they were able to adapt them to the undersea environment, eventually creating the race known as the gillmen. Aboleth on Golarion The aboleth are known to still dwell in settlements on the floor of the Arcadian Ocean. Ancient ruins of their cities, such as Voshgurvaghol, are occasionally explored by the brave and foolhardy. They are also known to dwell in small numbers in the Darklands realm known as the Land of Black Blood. References Category:Aberrations Category:CR 7 creatures Category:Aquatic subtype creatures Category:Lawful evil creatures